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About The skanner. (Portland, Or.) 1975-2014 | View Entire Issue (March 2, 2016)
Page 2 The Skanner March 2, 2016 Challenging People to Shape a Better Future Now Opinion Bernie Foster Founder/Publisher Bobbie Dore Foster Executive Editor Jerry Foster Advertising Manager Christen McCurdy News Editor Patricia Irvin Graphic Designer Arashi Young Reporter Monica J. Foster Seattle Office Coordinator Susan Fried Photographer 2015 MERIT AWARDS WINNER The Skanner has received 20 NNPA awards since 1998 The Skanner Newspaper, es- tablished in October 1975, is a weekly publication, published every Wednesday by IMM Publi- cations Inc. 415 N. Killingsworth St. P.O. Box 5455 Portland, OR 97228 FROM THE PUBLISHER: Cops’ 48-Hour Exception Shields Them Unfairly W e place a great deal of trust in our police officers by allowing them to use deadly force in life or death situa- tions. It is only right that we should hold them accountable for their actions. If you or I were to shoot somebody, in self-defense or for any other reason, you’d better believe we would be arrested, handcuffed and “ Bernie Foster Publisher will be part of a media pool that will accompany her for part of her visit. When the top law enforce- should be accountable for their actions. The Department of Justice settlement with the City of Portland was designed to remedy the Portland Police Bureau’s history of violating the civil rights of citizens. It clearly states that the city should remove the 48-hour exception. By failing to get rid of the 48-hour exception, Portland By failing to get rid of the 48-hour exception, Portland is out of compliance with the 2012 civil rights settle- ment agreement taken to a police interview room to answer questions. Yet when Portland Police offi- cers shoot someone while on duty, or if a person dies in cus- tody – as James Chasse did— they are allowed to disappear for 48 hours before they have to answer a single question. U.S. Attorney General Lo- retta Lynch is in Portland Thursday. The Skanner News ment office is in town, we can assume the 48-hour rule for police accountability will be on the agenda – or should be. The 48-hour rule is not po- lice accountability. It is not justice. It is criminal. We place a great deal of trust in our police officers by allowing them to use deadly force in life or death situa- tions. It is only right that they is out of compliance with the 2012 civil rights settlement agreement. That’s according to the attorneys at the US De- partment of Justice. In fact, they say, the 48-hour rule vio- lates settled case law. Earlier this month U.S. De- partment of Justice lawyers met with Multnomah County prosecutors in an effort to get them on board. The prosecu- Telephone (503) 285-5555 Fax: (503) 285-2900 info@theskanner.com www.TheSkanner.com The Skanner is a member of the National Newspaper Pub lishers Association and West Coast Black Pub lishers Association. All photos submitted become the property of The Skanner. We are not re spon sible for lost or damaged photos either solicited or unsolicited. ©2016 The Skanner. All rights re served. Reproduction in whole or in part without permission prohibited. Local News Pacific NW News World News Opinions Jobs, Bids Entertainment Community Calendar RSS feeds BE A PART OF THE CONVERSATION #SkNews tors shouldn’t need a pep talk from the feds to help them understand why the 48-hour rule is wrong. Don’t they have a conscience to help them stand up for equal justice un- der the law? The Police Officers union, to its shame, has fought every effort to hold police account- able for their actions. That’s not an excuse for the City to drag its heels. Mayor Hales, if there is one more thing you must do be- fore you leave office it is this. Tell Portland Police Bureau the 48-rule must go. And make sure it happens. Citibank Ordered to Refund $4.9 Million to 2,100 Consumers L ast year, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) launched a national ini- tiative, dubbed Opera- tion Collection Protection, to further protect consumers from unlawful practices re- lated to debt collection. Now, in a report to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), FTC summarized its results on behalf of consum- ers and additionally pledged to continue efforts with more joint actions with law en- “ Julianne Malveaux NNPA Columnist violations from ever work- ing in debt collection again. The two agencies joined forces to work with the De- partment of Justice and state Attorneys General to fight phone calls, and false threats of litigation or arrest. Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan worked with FTC to stop rogue collection enterprises. There defen- dants used a host of business names to target consumers who either applied for or obtained payday and other short-term loans. Ultimately, those charged agreed to pay a $6.4 million judgement and were banned from working in any debt collection business. In order to effectively address debt collection abuses and the harms they cause, consumers need law enforce- ment to step up at every level forcement partners. In a February 12 letter to CFPB, FTC highlighted its most successful efforts to eliminate illegal debt collec- tion practices that include: • Coordination of the first federal-state-local enforce- ment effort dedicated to targeting deceptive and abusive debt collection practices; • Obtaining nearly $94 mil- lion in judgments; • Filing 12 new cases against 52 new defendants – a re- cord number for FTC in a single year; and • Banning 30 companies and individuals that engaged in serious and repeated legal illegal and abusive practices that affect nearly 30 million consumers. This inter-governmental collaboration minimizes du- plicated efforts while max- imizing opportunities for successful prosecutions. This coordination yields early ben- efits to consumers in Georgia, Illinois, New York, Oklahoma and Texas. Additional efforts are expected for consumers nationwide. Since Operation Collection Protection began, over 130 new law enforcement actions by federal state and local law enforcement resulted in pros- ecution against collectors that used illegal practices such as wage garnishment, harassing In cooperation with the New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman, a debt collec- tion case that began in 2014 was resolved in 2015 with an $8.5 million judgment and additionally required that de- fendants forfeit assets associ- ated with the scam. As law enforcement and regulators investigate and, where appropriate take ac- tion against illegal debt col- lections, legislative and court actions in states such as Cali- fornia, Minnesota, New York and North Carolina are en- acting reforms to ensure that debts are collected from peo- ple who actually owe them. State Attorneys General are currently pushing for re- forms in Missouri and Mary- land, while additional legisla- tion is pending in a number of other states. In a related and separate action on February 23, the Consumer Financial Protec- tion Bureau (CFPB) ordered Citibank to pay $4.89 million to about 2,100 consumers and a $3 million penalty. Citi- bank was charged with sell- ing credit card debt with in- flated interest rates and then failing to promptly forward consumer payments to debt buyers. The delays resulted in consumers being subjected to collection attempts for bills already paid from 2010-2013. “In order to effectively ad- dress debt collection abuses and the harms they cause, consumers need law enforce- ment to step up at every lev- el,” said Lisa Stifler, a senior policy counsel with the Cen- ter for Responsible Lending. “Rules for fair debt collection require the participation of state legislatures, regulators and courts. Enforcement ac- tions by Attorneys General are critical to ensuring that common-sense rules are fol- lowed by debt collectors and that consumers are treated fairly.” Charlene Crowell is a com- munications manager with the Center for Responsible Lending. She can be reached at Charlene.crowell@responsi- blelending.org.
